The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, January 12, 1983-Page 3 Sing Sing seige ends; officials to make changes OSSINGING, N.Y. (AP) - Guards buttoned up the old Sing Sing prison yesterday, while 17 freed hostages got medical checkups and the state's prison boss began correcting some of the con- ditions that led to the 53-hour siege of Cell Block B. After a morning inspection tour, State Correction Commissioner Thomas Coughlin said rebellious prisoners had been prepared to resist force with fire hoses but instead dren- ched the cell block. "THE INMATES just totally trashed the place in terms of junk," he said, but added: "They didn't do very much damage." Most of the guards held hostage during the seige, which stretched from Saturday night to early yesterday, were taken to a hospital for rest and checkups. They were kept away from reporters. Coughlin said some of the inmates' demands were justified, adding: "They'll see certain changes quite rapidly. We'll make recreation schedules more reasonable . . . Rules concerning packages will change." HE SAID inquiries were under way by state police, his own department and the civilian Commission on Correction, and that criminal charges would be brought against some inmates. Coughlin said he could not be more specific, but mentioned assault and riot as possible charges, adding that taking hostages "is pretty close to kidnap- ping." He said corrections officials found many homemade weapons in the cellblock yesterday. Cuomo, who took office 11 days ago, said it was a victory to getthe hostages out "without injury to them or to the law. We haven't given anything." He said the "shadow of Attica" had hung over the negotiations, a reference to the 1971 Attica prison takeover in New York which 43 inmates and hostages died. Court told pension plan biased Daily Photo by JON SNOW As Black Student Union members broadcast recordings of famous speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., students gather to sign petitions asking that the civil rights leader's birthday, Jan. 15 be made a national holiday. Loa roups pan teir9 birathday.t ribu tes to King WASHINGTON (AP) - The Reagan Administration told the Supreme Court yesterday that most pension plans illegally discriminate against women by paying them lower benefits than men simply because they live longer. Solicitor General Rex Lee told the court in a written brief that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits the almost universal practice of basing monthly pension benefits on actuarial tables showing the different life expec- tancies of men and women. The Justice Department's comments came in a case involving pension plans used by 3,400 colleges for some 650,000 employees, but the issues could affect millions of American workers and billions of dollars in pensions. LEE NOTED that in 1978 the Supreme Court ruled against a retirement plan that required women to make larger contributions than men. "Whether a woman contributes a By SHARON SILBAR In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr.'s achievements, the Black Student Union and several civic groups have launched a petition drive to have the Icivil rights leader's birthday, Jan. 15, declared a national holiday. The drive, part of a nationwide effort, began on Monday and will continue through Friday in the Fishbowl. From 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., students can sign the petitions and hear recordings of King's speeches. INFORMATION about upcoming events sponsored by Union and other black student organizations will also be available. At the end of the week, the petitions will be forwarded to the Washington D.C. lobbying group that has organized the drive. BSU Chairman Kenny Gear stressed that in addition to sending the petitions to Washington, it is important to "make people aware of not only Martin Luther King Jr. as a man, but also what he stood for." ALTHOUGH they are unsure of how many signatures they have collected thus far from both students and faculty, union leaders are optimistic. LSA freshman Carolyn Lerner said she thought the union was doing a good job. "I can't imagine that they wouldn't be successful," she said. In another tribute to King, the Second Baptist Church, 850 Red Oak, is spon- U' nat., science fact By GEORGEAKOVANIS A national survey ranking five of the University's natural science doctoral programs shows the quality of the faculty in at least one of the departmen- ts is just barely above average. But other University programs fared better in the survey rating faculty com- petence and achievements, favorably next to other major institutions around the country. OF THE programs evaluated, the cellular and molecular biology depar- tment received the lowest faculty quality score of just four points above the average, while the physiology department faculty was given the highest mark - 15 points above average - among the University programs studied. The botany department faculty received the second highest score with a rating of 14 points above average, while biochemistry and microbiology faculty were evaluated as being 12.poin- ts better than average. The evaluation, which is published by the National Academy Press, is the -HIAPPENINGS- Films Alternative Action - Communism (1952); See it Now - Murrow Report on McCarthy, 8:30 p.m., East Quad. Cinema Guild - Smiles of a Summer Night, 7 & 9 p.m., Lorch. Classic Film Theatre - The Great Santini, 7 & 9:15 p.m., Michigan Theatre. Hill St. The Caine Mutiny, 7 & 9:30 p.m., 1450 Hill. Mediatrics - Top Hat, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 9 p.m., MLB 3. Anthropology - Nanook of the North and Grass, 7 p.m., MLB Lec. Rm. 2. Netherlands - American Universty League - In Search of Jewish Am- sterdam, 8p.m., Rackham Amph. Performances School of Music - Harpsichord recital, Edward Parmentier, 8 p.m., Recital Hall. UAC - Laugh Track, featuring Chicago's own Johnny Caponera, 9 p.m., University Club, Union. Speakers Engineering - Dr. Kyung S. Park, "Optimal Scheduling of Periodic Ac- tivities," 4 p.m., 311W. Engineering. Russian & E. European Studies - Brown bag, Dr. Martin Spechler, "The Bankrupt Successes of Eastern Europe and the Failure of Growth Policy," noon, Lane Hall. UAC - George Wald, "Survival in a Lethal Society," 8 p.m., Rackham Aud. Engineering - James Wilkes, "Introduction to Digital Computing, FOR- TRAN IV Programming Language-I," 7 p.m., Nat. Sci. Aud. UM Hospitals - Health Night Out, Stephen Cook & Melvin Guyer, "Kids & Divorce: Surviving the Custody Battle," 7:30 p.m., Hussey Rm., League. Museum of Art - Art Break, M. Coudron, "The Nude" exhibition, 12:10 p.m. Computing Center - Forrest Hartman, "Intro. to Display Terminals, 3:30 p.m., 176 BSAD. Economics - Hans Ehrbar, "How Democracy Works," 7 p.m., 414 Mason. Transcendental Meditation Program - Lecture, 8 p.m., 528 W. Liberty. Meetings Nurse's Christian Fellowship - 4 p.m., Furstenburg. Michigan Economic Society - 4p.m., 101 Lorch. Undergraduates Psychology Club - Mass Meeting, 7 p.m., 439 Mason. Michigan Gay Undergrads -9p.m., Guild House, 802 Monroe. Tae Kwon Do-6 p.m., CCRB. soring a march through downtown Ann Arbor on Sunday. The march will start at 4 p.m. at the Washtenaw County Building, proceed west on Miller, and end at the church. A brief ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. Richard Garland, chairman of the church's committee, and Pastor Em- mett Green will lead the services which will focus on the "improvement of human relations, meeting the challenges of education, voting rights and privileges, and the moral and spiritual aspects of the legacy of Dr. King," according to Green. Green said he expects several hun- dred people to march and attend the memorial service, but said "it will be a solemn assembly with no fanfare." lty rated fourth installment of a five-part study of doctoral programs across the coun- try. The five natural science programs were evaluated by faculty members from the nation's colleges who are in- structors in the fields studied. DEPARTMENT chairmen were pleased with the good rankings of the majority of the programs, although some were unsure of the survey's im- plications. According to Prof. Robert Helling, chairman of cellular and molecular biology, the comparatively lower rating for the department could be attributed to the University's lack of attention to the program in the past. "The Univer- sity had put more emphasis on the social sciences in previous years," he said. But he added that the program is now a higher priority item and "is really moving ahead.',' Helling also cited the low number of faculty members as another possible reason for the barely above average faculty quality rating. ASSISTANT Chairman of Biological Sciences Charles Yocum said that although he isn't sure what the ratings mean, he thought the lower faculty quality score for the cellular and molecular biology department could reflect the fact that "there aren't any Nobel Prize winners here." He added that the survey "probably reflects the number of grants they (professors) have" as well as the num- ber of doctoral students they've trained. While Yocum says he is unsure of the survey's implications, Prof. Minor Coon, chairman of the University's biological chemistry department, believes that the above average score for the department "confirms what we already know." "IT'S NICE to see that the Univer- sity's excellence in biological science is recognized - it's good news for the University," Coon said. Prof. Michal Savageau, acting chairman of the microbiology depar- tment, called the survey "a very sub- jective thing," but said that he was satisfied with the score that the depar- tment received. "We're pleased that we're up there," he remarked, adding that the recognition among faculty peers is important. The chairmen of the physiology and botany programs declined to comment on the survey because they had not seen it yet. BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Christian and Druse militiamen pounded each other with artillery and rockets yester- day, leaving five dead in renewed fighting southeast of Beirut. U.S. presidential envoy Philip Habib was on his way to Jerusalem, mean- while, in hopes of breaking the impasse in the stalemated Israeli-Lebanese talks on withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon. THE LATEST fighting flared in the Beirut suburbs of Hadath, Baaba and Maaroufieb, and was the most serious breach of a two-week-old cease-fire between the rival factions in the Israeli-occupied central mountains, where 90 people were killed in nine weeks of bloodshed. Three of yesterday's victims were killed in the Christian-populated town of Hadath, three miles southeast of Beirut's center, when a rocket struck a private car, setting it on fire and killing a pedestrian, the state radio said. Hadath is adjacent to the Beirut in- ternational airport where 1,200 U.S. Marines are stationed as part of the in- ternational peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Marines contacted by telephone said, however, that 'the shelling was not close to Marine positions. THE STATE radio said two shells landed near the presidential palace in Baabda, five miles southeast of Beirut, but caused no damage or casualties. A Lebanese official, who requested anonymity in conformity with gover- nment regulations, said Lebanon agreed Monday to a U.S. proposal for a "composite agenda" for talks with Israel provided the issues are con- sidered "topics for discussion, not bin- ding principles." The talks have been deadlocked over Lebanon's insistence that they focus on withdrawal of Israel's army, which in- vaded June 6 to crush the Palestine Liberation Organization, and on Israel's demand.-that normalization of relations with Lebanon be included on the agenda. "THIS IS our final position, the far- thest we can go," the official said. Talks resume Thursday in the northern Israeli settlement of Eryat Shmona. "If agreement is reached, official an- nouncement approving the composite agenda will be made by the two gover- nments concerned before the next session of talks," the Lebanese official greater amount of her compensation than a man for an equal benefit or con- tributes an equal amount for a lesser benefit, the use of sex-based actuarial tables in calculating periodic benefits results in the same discrimination," Lee said. Pension plan operators have argued that the life expectancy tables produce a fair system because men as a group get paid the same benefits as women as a group. This is because in the United States women tend to live longer than men and thus, although their monthly benefit is smaller', their total benefit is about the same. THE AMERICAN Academy of Ac- tuaries says that the life expectancy of women born in 1981 is 78.3 years, while men born in the same year are expec- ted to live an average 70.7 years. But Lee said, "Title VII protects in- dividuals, not groups; it is not satisfied simply by showing that the challenged policy is fair to the group as a whole." The Reagan administration has used the same interpretation of Title VII in opposing racial hiring quotas in race discrimination cases, opting instead for remedies for individual victims. "It is simply irrelevant for Title VII purposes that women as a group receive total annuity benefits equal to men as a group," Lee said. The Justice Department's brief was filed in a case brought by Diana Spirt, a tenured professor at Long Island University in New York. She challenged her retirement plan because it pays women monthly benefits that are 11.3 percent less than those provided to men with equal service and equal contributions to the plan. Long Island University's plan is managed by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association 'and the. College Retirement Equities Fund. Rockets shatter Beirut cease-fire said. In addition to Israeli forces, Lebanon wants Syrian troops and Palestinian guerrillas out of the country. Although Israel's invasion forced the evacuation of thousands of guerrillas from Beirut in August, thousands more remain behind Syrian lines in northern and eastern Lebanon. The Syrians have been in Lebanon since snuffing out the 1975-76 Moslem-Christian civil war. IN ANOTHER development, Israeli, Defense Minister Ariel Sharon yester-- day rejected the inclusion of the PLO in any form in the peace talks delegation being discussed by Jordan and thel PLO. Cabinet member resigns (Continued from Page 1) Lewis's resignation was announced Dec. 28. The other cabinet changes saw Alexander Haig replaced as secretary of state last summer by George Shultz and James Edards succeeded as energy secretary by Donald Hodel in November. Schweiker, 56, served two terms as a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and did not run again in 1980 to return to the business interests that had made him a millionaire. AS SENATOR, Schweiker was Reagan's choice for the Republican vice presidential nomination in his un- successfull campaign in 1976. When he left the Senate, Schweiker was considered an expert in health because of his position as ranking member of the Labor and Human Resources Committee and its subcom- mittee on health. Those panels set policy and budget levels for the Health and Human Services Department. As secretary, Schweiker was generally conceded to have held his own in the administration's drive to cut domestic spending, particularly in social programs. HE PAID particular attention to health research, and the National In- stitutes of Health was spared budget cuts. Schweicker did "extraordinarily well" in resisting cuts in the budget for the 1984 fiscal year to be sent to Congress later this month, particularly in funds for the Food and Drug Ad- ministration and the Centers for Disease Control, said a department source who asked not to be identified. This source said there were no dif- ferences between the secretary and the president over the president's up- coming proposals on major social programs. IakW4ARMY I SURPLUS 201 E. Washington at Fourth NOW OPEN SUNDAY! 11-4 OPEN M-SAT, 9-6 OPEN FRI. 9-8 994-3572 OPN RI.9- 15% OFF ALL MERCHANDISE (Except Sole Items) (Expires Tuesday, Jan. 18, 1983) PART TIME EMPLOYMENT NIGHTS The College of Literature, Science and The Arts is currently iiw ... .r. .t .3 -tr r awtltrw